Part 6; Downham to King's Lynn

After leaving Downham Market railway station and doubling back to Downham Bridge, we follow the footpath north that follows the eastern side of the Great Ouse; at times the Relief Channel is very close to the river.  After a couple of miles, we pass the bridge at the village of Stowbridge and continue heading north towards the Wiggenhalls; the route heads past the stone supports for an old rail bridge across the river on the line that ran from Watlington to Wisbech - the line closed in 1969, although the bridge over the Relief Channel is still there.  

There are four Wiggenhalls - St Peter, St Germans, St Mary and St Mary Magdalene - and the first we come to, Wiggenhall St Mary Magdalene is the largest.  The church there is huge and has a weeping chancel, where the nave and chancel are built at a slight dogleg to each other, as well as a rare collection of medieval stained glass and beautifully carved benches.  A mile further up river are the ruins of the Church of Wiggenhall St Peter and another mile brings us to the Church at Wiggenhall St Germans.

The river bears north east now and two miles further is the where the Relief Channel rejoins the Great Ouse - this is the site of the Tail Sluice which works in tandem with the Denver Sluice down river (see previous FP post). We cross the bridge over the Sluice and follow the river King's Lynn, initially by the side of Palm Paper's giant mill; this is on the site of what was once King's Lynn's sugar factory. There are good views of King's Lynn before we cross the River Nar, a tributary of the Great Ouse, and we reach King's Lynn itself.  This is end of the Fen Rivers Way - it has been nearly 50 miles since starting in Cambridge and this great long distance walk has now been completed!Read more